Town hall 'rage': Organic or Astro?

In 2009, hordes of angry voters grabbed headlines by overrunning town halls to protest health care reform. To supporters, they were an organic, on-the-ground confirmation of the cause. To detractors, they were little more than Astroturf—Washington-funded conservative front groups stoking populist outrage for their partisan gain.

Two years later the same storyline is playing out —only in reverse — and a wide range of liberal activists and unions are ginning up the “town hall rage” narrative against Republican plans for Medicare. But the critical question looms again: Is this a real movement or something orchestrated and overdone by Washington-fueled activists?

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So far, it looks like it’s a little of both.

Videos of constituents heckling Republican members—from freshmen like North Dakota’s Rick Berg, Pennsylvania’s Pat Meehan and Florida’s Dan Webster, to budget committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.)— have spread online and through cable news shows, thanks in part to groups like the Democratic National Committee and progressive activist group Americans United for Change, who have gleefully circulated news and footage of the lawmakers getting harassed at town halls.

Though it’s far too soon to tell if these protests will come anywhere near the level of outrage registered at the health care town halls of 2009, what’s clear is that the political arms of national unions and other liberal activist groups are putting their organizational heft behind efforts to make the budget vote an albatross by promoting on-the-ground activism against the Ryan proposal.

Chuck Loveless, legislative director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said his group has sent national staffers into 10 states to brief union members on the effects of Ryan’s budget plan, particularly the way House Republicans envision changing the Medicare and Medicaid programs that pay for health care for the elderly, disabled and poor.

AFSCME has also teamed up with liberal umbrella organization Health Care for American Now (HCAN), the Alliance for Retired Americans and Americans United for local events in states Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida and Maine. HCAN, like MoveOn.org, is emailing their supporters to encourage their attendance at Republican town halls.

“Can you go and ask Rep. Grimm how he can justify eliminating Medicare to pay for tax cuts for the rich?” said one of the emails MoveOn sent to their supporters this week. “Be civil—we don’t need to yell to make our point—but don’t let Rep. Grimm avoid taking responsibility for his vote.”

“All you have to do is look at the footage of these town halls—these events are as organic as it gets,” says Ethan Rome, executive director of HCAN. “There’s authentic anger about what Republicans are doing, and people understand that this is important.”

The way unions tell the story, they’re educating their membership, and, in turn, the grassroots is making its way to town hall events and engaging in other forms of activism. Think of it like this: They’re handing out matches and gasoline, but the grassroots are burning on their own.

“All we need to do is tap into the organic fury that’s there now. We just need to direct our members’ anger to where it needs to go, with addresses and phone numbers and let them know when congress members are holding town hall meetings,” said Marty Marks, a Pennsylvania-based AFL-CIO spokesman. Social Security Works and the Alliance for Retired American are jointly holding events across the state this recess, targeting freshmen and swing district members already facing tough town halls thanks to their budget votes.